Putting on the International Spring Orchestra Festival for the 10th consecutive year must be a feather in the cap for its artistic director Karl Fiorini, who also happens to be one of Malta’s well-known composers of his generation.
Space does not permit me to mention all events because in any case I was only able to attend three of the many concerts and recitals beginning with the second night, at the Manoel. This was the European Union Chamber Orchestra led by Hans-Peter Hofmann who launched into a crisp and fresh-sounding Simple Symphony, Op. 4 by Britten.
Wind elements from the Malta Philharmonic joined the EUCO strings in a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto N.13 in C Major, K. 415 with soloist Charlene Farrugia. Although considered not as “great” as his later concertos there is nothing less than delightful in anything Mozart wrote. Neither did Farrugia fail to project the charm and grace of this work. It was indeed good of her to familiarise her audience with a composition which would perforce feature in a complete recorded set of Mozart’s piano concertos yet is so very rarely performed live.
On a second hearing after its world premiere at last year’s VIAF in Gozo, I appreciated more Joseph Vella’s Dust on the Path, Op.138. It is a setting of five poems by the late Alistair Chalmers, a work of stark beauty, tragic yet wistful and of sublime depth of feeling. This was well projected by soprano Miriam Cauchi in a highly charged interpretation in which she successfully tackled the frequently taxing high tessitura.
Haydn’s Symphony N. 34 in D minor, Hob. 1:34 concluded the evening. The opening adagio was so long drawn out and so repetitive that for the first time in my life I was hearing Haydn bordering on the tedious. Some relief was provided in the rest of the work with all the expected contrasts and change of tempi. However, it was something I preferred to hear rather than hear and watch. In the admittedly very crisp, zestful and brilliant Allegro and Presto assai, all Herr Hofmann risked doing was fly off as his right leg was distractingly swinging about with unrestrained gusto!
Camilleri-Lucini duo are soloists and ensemble players in their own right
A pretty good turnout at Palazzo Pereira in Valletta enjoyed the flute and guitar duo recital by the Camilleri-Lucini Duo. Both performers – leading flautist Fiorella Camilleri and equally accomplished Italian guitarist Lucio Lucini – are soloists and ensemble players in their own right and form a well-honed and mutually supportive duo. They presented a mix of Hispanic music and works with Balkan roots and in one particular example, Alan Thomas’s Haj Mene Majka even explored the connection between Balkan music and flamenco.
Among other works by Thomas there was a beautiful Macedonian Lament. Jacque Ibert’s Entr’acte stood because, while of flamenco inspiration it was written by a Frenchman. It allows both instruments to stand out singly and in closely-knit ensemble playing. Although Granados wrote Ocho Valses poéticos for piano, these lent themselves well to a flute and guitar arrangement and came across with great fluency, mood-setting variety and stylish elegance.
Both remaining works were by Piazzolla, with Ave Maria allowing a different insight of a composer almost exclusively associated with the tango. The duo performed his four-movement Histoire de Tango with flair, flashes of virtuoso playing and a very evocative journey in the development of a popular music/dance form.
Continued applause rewarded the audience with two fine encores – Evgenija and La Paloma.